This is a report on “YUKAI RESORT,” which are located all over Japan as affordable hot spring resorts. This time, I went to Shima Saichoraku in Mie Prefecture.
Conclusion: Recommended for families and friends who want to enjoy a casual stay and hot spring resort
advance information
Personnel: 3 men in their 40s
- We have been friends since our school days. They currently live in Hyogo, Aichi, and Kyoto prefectures.
- We usually have a family gathering at the end of the year, but it was cancelled at the end of last year due to the Corona disaster. Now that the state of emergency has been lifted, we decided to get together for the first time in a while.
- Each family has children who are preparing for high school and college entrance exams, so we decided to stay somewhere without the option of having a family gathering or meeting at someone’s house.
- So, our main goal was to get together, drink, play board games, and enjoy conversation. We also searched for a place to stay if we could find a hot spring or a good meal.
Reasons for choosing YUKAI RESORT (Shima Saichoraku) and recommendations
Reasonable price
It was 13,900 yen/adult for a weekend stay (Saturday and Sunday) in early October, including two meals per night, in a Japanese-style room (for three to five people) with a view of the ocean. For reference, I also searched for other lodgings in the Shima area, but could not find any lodging under 20,000 yen with the same conditions.
Affordable Japanese style inn
My goal was to “relax in my room,” so I looked for an inn that had Japanese-style rooms instead of Western-style rooms, but not too formal and casual.
YUKAI RESORT’s style is that (1) futons are already laid out when you check in, and (2) meals are buffets at the restaurant. There are no employees coming to lay out futons or bring in food, as is the case in traditional hot spring hotels. It was a good match for our purpose of this trip.
Buffet dinner and breakfast
One of the concepts of YUKAI RESORT is buffet style meals.
Although there are some disadvantages, such as not feeling comfortable because you have to go and get your own food, and it is difficult to have a particular meal at a buffet, the advantages were greater than the disadvantages considering the purpose of this visit.
(1) There are so many different types of food that it’s impossible to eat them all, including meat, fish, vegetables, desserts, raw, grilled and fried foods. It’s nice to be able to choose as much as you want to eat.
(2) You can eat freshly prepared food… The grilled and fried food sections are staffed by chefs, so you can eat freshly prepared food each time. Freshly made is always the best.
(3) Coffee and tea after dinner… In the coffee and tea corner, ceramic cups and paper cups are available. You can have one cup with dessert at the restaurant and another cup after dinner to take back to your room. It is also nice to have a cup of coffee after dinner while relaxing in your room.
(Extra) Alcohol – extra charge, single or all-you-can-drink plans are available. We drank only one beer and enjoyed the rest in our room with drinks and snacks we brought with us.
Access from Kansai (Hyogo, Kyoto)/Tokai (Aichi)
I searched for a place to stay in Mie Prefecture because I knew that people from Hyogo, Aichi, and Kyoto would be there.
There is another yukai resort in Toba in Mie Prefecture, but since we used this one last time, we decided to stay in Shima this time. The basic concept of both resorts is the same, so I recommend Toba as well. You can choose your accommodation depending on where you want to go before and after check-in and check-out.
Extra information
- The bath is a hot spring, with soft water that seems to be good for your health. There is no outdoor bath, but a sauna is available 24 hours a day.
- 旅館の近くに釣り堀あり。釣ってその場で食べることもできます。要予約。(サイトはこちら→https://kaiyuuen.com/）
- We brought board games and enjoyed them in our room. We were three men in our 40s who like to play board games, and we wanted to have a relaxing time while drinking, so we brought “Catan” and “Carcassonne”. (See also the introduction page of the board game “Carcassonne”)
Summary
You can casually enjoy a hot spring inn at a low price. Buffet-style meals are also available, and are recommended for families with children and group travel.
